Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/8/1 - May - June 1915 - Part 1

AWM38

Official History,
1914-18 War : Records of C E W Bean
Official Historian.

Diaries and Notebooks

Item number: 3DRL606/8/1

Title: Diary, May - June 1915
Includes reference to Lt K G W Crabbe's notes
on Albert Jacka's VC action.

AWM38-3DRL606/8/1

May 16 to 
June 5
DIARY 8

Original         DIARY No.8.
AWM38  3DRL 606 ITEM 8 [1]

DIARIES AND NOTES OF C.E.W.BEAN
CONCERNING THE WAR OF 1914 - 1918

THE use of these diaries and notes is subject to conditions laid down in the terms
of gift to the Australian War Memorial. But, apart from those terms, I wish the
following circumstances and considerations to be brought to the notice of every 
reader and writer who may use them.

These writings represent only what at the moment of making them I believed to be 
true. The diaries were jotted down almost daily with the object of recording what 
was then in the writer's mind. Often he wrote them when very tired and half asleep;
also, not infrequently, what he believed to be true was not so - but it does not
follow that he always discovered thos, or remembered to correct the mistakes when
discovered. Indeed, he could not always remember that he had written them.

These records should, therefore, be used with great caution, as relating only what
their author, at the time believed. Further, he cannot, of course, vouch
for the accuracy of the statements made to him by others and here recorded. But he
did try to ensure accuracy by consulting, as far as possible, those who had
seen or otherwise taken part in the events. The constant falsity of second-hand
evidence (on which a large proportion of war stories are founded) was impressed 
upon him by the second or third day of the Gallipoli campaign, notwithstanding that
those who passed on such stories usually themselves believed them to be true. All
second-hand evidence should be read with this in mind.

16 Sept.,1946    C.E.W.BEAN

AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL
ACCESS STATUS
OPEN

Arthur     ) No 2 troop C Sq. 3rd L.H.
Duncan  )
May 16 to
June 5
DIARY 8

13
Diary 8.
May 16 - June 5

1A
[In these early days one divl artillery officer
was employed _^almost solely in going round investigating
rumours that the artillery had fired on our own men. This
officer, Maj. Nicholson ws coming down shrapnel gully one day
when he met a body of men several officers standing round - one of them showing a 
shell to the others. N. asked if they wd tell him what ws /
matter. The officer - Col. Plugge - said yes, he would. That ws
the shell which had killed a major, a sergeant , & two men.
Major N. picked up the shell - it was a 10 pdr - & sd he wd
investigate it. He found it was one of our shells & had
burst in our lines. But it ws not  the rest ws pure fiction. it
had burst near a doctor in the latrines & had killed nobody.
He put in a stiff report over the matter.

The Turks are constantly (in their diaries we see it)
making the same complaint.

On the day we left Anzac I noticed a gun firing
about in the afternoon from the Kaba Tepe direction
along our Southern beach. The shells fell in the water
off the shore & came along each shell 200 yds further
than / last like a great flea. I think it ws / day after we
left tt a battery of 4 guns suddenly opened from the
beach there (in emplacements I fancy). Ramsay ws
walking up / beach when a gun shell burst beside him;
another whizzed over his head; another naked man rushed it got into some packages of
out of / water from Anzac he bottles and the air was full of flying glass. _^Ramsey ducked up Anzac Cove
As he was sitting in / dugout there a naked man
dodged in & sat on / step of it - amongst all of them.

They put in abt 50 shells on / beach tt night & another
lot / next night. The mules along / Southern end o / beach by Brighton
Pier were shot down 20 or 30 in one  burst. It ws an idiotic place for
them. Horses were shot also. Next night Birdwood put 300 men on
digging out each of the gullies- turning them into wide roadways

1   2
Glasfurds [[shorthand]]
May 16^th (Cont.)
It was abt 5 in the evening before 
we got onto the Fleetsweeper - F.S.2, & sailed.
Some of us were to have gone by a Union Castle
boat - but she got ashore at the last moment.
We put half of the 7th on board the Ionian on which
there were other troops - whilst the 5th & half the
7th went by remained on F.S.2. The men mostly
remained on deck or round the cook house.
The officers got down into the wardroom - The
smoking room of a small cross-channel steamer.

One of our men on board had been on that
packet before - a good time before. In civilian 
life she was the Reindeer - owned by the G.W.R.,
a fast little ferry of 21 kn. running between Weymouth
& the Channel Islands. She had been all the winter in
the N.Sea - in all weathers; & never saw a 
German flag & only about 3 mines, which were
sunk by destroyers coming up & firing into them.
She had a naval reserve crew on board - & they
were awfully hospitable - as they have always been
couldn't do too much for our men. On getting
on board  we were originally only meant to be
taken out to the transport in F.S.2, but
when the transport went aground they decided 
the authorities decided to take the us round
to Anzac in her. We  They immediately set
to work to give us a meal. They had only
water for 80 for 3 days - but after their
own tucker was fin own evening meal
was finished they gave all the men a warm
drink & some soup or something , & all the
officers some curry, a glass of lime juice &

1B
[up wh / mules were kept. The army service corps
men / second day went out under a perfect rain of 
shrapnel & brought / mules into / gullies - one o /
finest bits of work done here.

I heard of a fine piece of work by the Sretcher
Bearers whilst we were away. A party of RMLI
or Naval Brigade was ordered to go into an impossible
position. The officer or n.c.o sd  to himself "I've been ordered
to go - I must do it -Been ordered to go - I must do it -
been ordered to go - I must do it" & they went up.
A machine gun got onto them & laid ^the lot or almost the lot of them out. One
of them ws left wounded. One of our stretcher bearers
below saw the man lying there. "I must get him"
he sd. "You cant possibly, old chap," they sd,"there's
a machine gun on / place". "I cant help it
I've got to do it - he cant be left there," he sd &
started up. As soon as he got to / top a 
m.g. bullet got him thro' / he ws killed.

We heard down at Helles a story (from
a staff officer, it ws sd to come) tt an Australian at
Anzac had gone out, taken a trench single handed
by enfilading it & shooting every man in it,
& bn recommended for the V.C. I asked as
soon as I got back if it were true - there ws not
a word of truth in it. We also heard vaguely at
Helles tt / Australians had taken several trenches
but had bn forced to retreat from them always,
being enfiladed at daybreak. This is more 
or less true. The Turks always build their trenches 

on
that system.]
2            4
a cup of cocoa. We slept on the floor & the old Colonel -
Wanliss - even had a change into pyjamas & the
luxury of a bunk & a bath. The cook I believe was up
all night long providing for our men. By Jove, we
cannot complain of the way the navy has treated us.
The Queen Elizabeths men the other day sent us & the
N.Z. people a big present of baccy - from the men in the
messes; [& The 3rd L.H. Brigade which arrived at
Anzac on Frid May 21 on wh day I am writing up
these notes, - was brought from Lemnos by destroyers
& cannot say too much about the way they were
treated on board. The sailors couldnt do too much
for them.]

As we were leaving there was a commotion
outside. Everyone rushed to the porthole except
The ships myself & a few who were talking.
The ships at were all plugging with rifles &
small guns as hard as they cd at something 
in the water. We thought it must be some
sort of joke or other. That night when we were
talking of mine sweeping one of the officers sd :
"We passed a mine tonight! just as we were 
leaving." It turned out the thing they had all been
plugging at was a floating mine - painted yellow. They
sank it in abt 3 minutes without it's exploding.
Generally have to use something bigger than rifle to do this,

e.g. 3 pounder.

We got opposite Kaba Tepe v. quickly - after
passing up empty mountainous  steep coast. As we got
nea opposite our old positn great interest to see
how our fellows had progressed - was positn
extended. We had heard all sorts of rumours - They
had taken Baby 700 - a man had been recommended

2A     (5)
[On Tues. May 11 Gellibrand ws hit.
[*Ramsays 

diary*]

Thurs May 6 Kaba Tepe guns started shelling battery on
S. end of beach & gradually worked over it & onto beach.
Capt Forbes ws hit trying to get mules into gully at back
of H.Qrs; also Col. Marshall & Maj. Young. Fatigue
party imd. put on to make shelter for mules in gully.
Frid May 7 Reinfs. arriving in small lots. Gun at K. Tepe
started shelling beach agn in afternoon. Ramsay ws returning
from ASC depot when shell burst beside him & another
over his head, killing yeoman of signallers. He dived
into A.C gully. Gen Birdwood ws standing at mouth
of it directing men w mules to bring them in
Mule drivers got up gully & wdnt come out & put
mules in : "so had to do it ourselves". E

Very Heavy loss in mules & men caused Gen.
Birdwood to make / order tt all transpt. must be
done at night.

Very heavy shelling heard down South.

May 12. More tremendous shelling heard down S^t. "We are
hoping the 29^th Divn were making a forward move.

May 13 . D.H.Q moved.

The gun at or near K. Tepe cant be located
- it shelled beach off & on whole morning doing little damage.

3          6
for V.C. for taking trench singlehanded (an Australian). When we
got opposite the hills we cd see line running along them quite 
clearly marked out by shining water tins almost like a line 
of dull jewels. (I had noticed same thing at Settil Bahr)
The line ws exactly same running along some old cliffs to
wh we hung by finger nails as it were. I sketched it -
The kerosene tins of reverse slope of support positns showed,
like a line on a map, where we were. We noticed there were v. few
transports left. The beach seemed just as before - we cd just make
it out. The fleet sweeper however rapidly passed it going
North - passed the few transports & battleships & went on
towards Nibrunesi Point. Great interest in this on board.
We guessed that some landing must have bn made there &
we were going on to support it - seemed rather like
hard work after our experiences down South. Wondered
for moment if it meant another landing under fire.
We cd see valley to N. of our positn, reaching down from
top of 900, & big valley to N of it leading inland to Kuchuk
Anafarta which very clearly seen & Baghahekeni
Biyak Anafarta. We cd see no sign of troops on the point
there. However when we got far well north we suddenly turned
& came in S. again towards one of the warships. As we
came in I had chance of seeing left of our positn. From
plateau on top of ridge wh curls up to our left ran two
long parallel trenches, with cross trench  due N., with
a cross trench coming down to shoulder of ridge further
N than our left - but not coming right to sea. It struck
me  we must have pushed out here - prob. easy to do
on a/c of Turk  bec. warships command greater part
of all these valleys running down straight to sea from
971. [Asked White afterwds - he sd no, they were
Turkish trenches].

We anchored almost opposite beach near
battleship - I think the Vengeance. Picket boat came off
& we were told that we shd stay on board that night.
They thought we shd be more comfortable there. It ws the usual

4
exquisite evening.

The fleet sweeper gave us dinner (as I have mentioned)
& we slept on floor of smoking room, perfectly comfortable. Men
slept on deck.
Next morning
May 17. Woke up

They told us on fleet sweeper that when the torpedoing of
Goliath happened in this way. Goliath saw destroyer or t-boat
coming down Dardanelles & signalled to it - looked just like
one of ours. Torpedo boat came on & got 3 torpedoes into Goliath
wh sank almost at once - only 100 or so of crew saved.

May 17. Next to porthole This morning on getting
up went on deck rather anxious to see how bn
whether beach was being more shelled than before, or less.
They sent had sent off signal to us to keep men under
cover whilst landing; & something we heard led us to 
believe they had had more severe shelling of late. Presently
Col. Wanliss told us he had heard that General Bridges had been
severely wounded & Gen Birdwood slightly wounded. That
sounded as if our Army corps had bn having bad time.
They said Gen. Bridges had bn kept on land for present
(This turned out to be wrong). Wondered who was acting
in command of divn. Walke  Everyone expected wd be
Gen Walker.

Watched shell dropping into water very fiercely
as first boats went in - salvoes of four lashing water
just this side of pier. They shelled first lot of boats going in
& second but became very spasmodic afterwards.
The beach ws fairly clear but I cd see men going abt
working careless of any fire in the good old Anzac
way - There seemed to be a battery in north near
Kuchuk Anafarta because cd see the 2nd of our
ships from the north shelling reverse slope of a ridge
in valley there. Most of shells however came from
South - cd see by way shrapnel was thrown from

5

woolly shrapnel cloud. This meant Kaba Tepe.
[Diagram- see original scan]

Got off to beach abt 9 o'c. There was Glasfurd on
the pier - he ws alright then; & Blamey. Went up to Milners
dug out & sd good bye.  Bazley was there - Capt. Carter
had landed earlier & told him I was all right. He carried
up my bag - he seems to have grown bigger & stronger since
leaving Australia.

The first thing xxxx I noticed was that he was
leading me off up a path up the hill! Our old H.Q. had had to be
xx shifted. The shells got too bad there & Gellibrand was hit
in the arm as he stood there at lunch. It was the first day
the two French interpreters were ashore. The beach was being
very heavily shelled & a pellet struck the wood close by
him. The interpreters moved close under cover & Gelly
was just chaffing them when he was hit - in the chest but
not thro' a lung, He was a rash beggar. When he came
over the hills with me a fortnight ago he stood out in the
open all the time whilst talking to the officers in the
H.Q. of the 5^th Bn. The bullets flying over were only strays
but there were a good many of them & a stray is just
as deadly as a bullet aimed at you - only less likely to hit.

I got up the hill & Carter Ramsay told me the general had
been very badly hit - that there was very little hope for 
him - Old Ramsay had a nice dugout with Foote up there
& he made one as welcome as he always does. He is the
most thoughtful kindest chap possible. He sd Howse had
gone off on the ship with the General & had sd that the limb
must be amputated, & that no one of the Generals age cd
stand the shock of the amputation. Foster also  Indeed
they had decided not to attempt it.

Col White told me the situation later in the day.
He had bn with the Gen, when he ws hit: The General used
to be very daring, he sd. He exposed himself without any
care for bullets, & when the rest of the staff took cover he
wd chaff them. "What are you getting down there for, White".

6
he wd ask. But in last few days he had bn more 
careful. xxxx Since he had bn out one day & a shrapnel 
had burst right over close to him & Col. Howse had sd: "General
you'll be caught if you can't go risking any more of those."
Next day when a shell exploded near them up on their
round Col. White said: "General, I think it's no use giving
them _^the chances they want" - or something of that sort. The
General to their surprise came into shelter and stayed there
for some time whilst the shells went over.

This day - last Saturday at about 10am. they
were going up Monash Gully. Monash Gully has bn dangerous
of late - the enemy can see down it & they ^must get rifles in
nests and an observer. When the observer sees anyone pass
he tells the sniper who lets fly. The staff hardly realised
this - there are so many sniper stories obviously untrue
going about - they get altered out of recognition as they
pass from mouth to mouth - regular latrine rumours
or "Furfies" as they are called. This day on their way
up the Gen. Col. White and Casey met ^Capt Glasgow of light
horse coming down. He sd be careful of that corner
ahead - I have lost 5 men there today. White sd to 
himself "One hears the same story everywhere - be careful 
here - keep low here etc but Glasgow isn't that sort of
fellow - not the sort of chap to romance." When they
got 200 yds from Col. Monash's H.Q. the men on the
opp. side of road sd. "Be careful here - run across 
here." For a wonder General did so. They ran across
one by one - General first ; then after a few
moments, the next man - so on. You have to
leave a gap or the 2nd man will stop the shot intended 
for the first man. This happened at the bends
the gully three of four times till they got to
Thompson's dressing Station, (1st Bn) The Gen. dived across
there in the usual way - & stopped for some time talking & getting
out cigarette lighted it. He beckoned to Col. White
to come across - & presently when they were all there
he sd: "Well White - time to be moving on." Thompson

7
sd: Be careful of this next bit, Sir. We have had several
men hit". The General went on & the last Gen Col. White 
saw of him was his long legs disappearing in the scrub.
"I dont know quite how it happened," Col. White sd - "but
Casey & I were standing there waiting to follow at intervals
when on a sudden there ws a commotion in the air  -
someone hit. We saw someone run forward. Then
Thompson went out. I did not hear anyone
call out for stretcher bearers - but there must have
been some such sign. Thompson dashed out - & we 
looked round from the shelter at the side of the path to
see who it was - & I saw they were kneeling over
the General. Casey said - "Who is it - the General' - I 
said "Yes, but stay where you are - we cant do any
good there now. by going out now." They brought him
into shelter - Thompson had secured the cut arteries.
It had cut not only the femoral artery but another
artery & vein. They say that another 12 heart beats & 
he must have died there & then. They brought him in
- ever so different from the bronzed healthy man that
had bn standing there a minute before. And then -
a strange thing for a man that who was not usually
thoughtful of others - when they brought him in so ill
his first words were. Dont have me carried down-
I dont want to endanger the lives of any of your 
stretcher bearers hit." Thompson sd: "Nonsense Sir,
of course you have got to be carried down." Thompson 
had just He tried to resist but of course they 
overbore him. Col. White stopped everyone moving
up or down that path for abt 100 yards & then
sent the stretcher bearers down by themselves with the
Gen. "You know, I fancy think these Turks have some decency
Bean," he told me. "There was not a shot all / while those
2 stretcher bearers were going down / gully. There ws
just a small party - White, Casey & the S.Bs & White 
thinks the Turks saw it was a party carrying a wounded
man & refrained from firing.